(Book Review) When I Fell in Love with Life: Musings of a Cancer Survivor, by Geetha Paniker

‘Life is 10% what happens to us, and 90% how we react to it.’ – Dennis Kimbro

No one can predict what life throws at us, how it tests us. We can’t control that, but we can control how we let it to affect us. We can choose to take it in our stride and learn from it, or stop and let it fester. To do the former takes strength and courage, patience and a positive life-affirming attitude. Those qualities are reflected in the writings shared by Geetha Paniker in this book.

Marrying simple language and poetry, she shares moments of her journey through and past the cancer. She writes about her illness in such a way that it doesn’t just inspire those who have faced and survived cancer, but inspires anyone to look at conquering the difficulties that life throws in their way. It shows that determination, combined with wonder, helps to heal. I have always felt that it’s the little things that matter most, and make a difference. This book confirms that belief many times over. I loved the way she has talked about nature, and how it helps to rejuvenate, how she compares life to flight, how she stresses on the importance of nature for becoming free of stress. I’ve looked to quotes to find inspiration before, and she shares quite a few in her writings too, the most memorable of which is ‘If life gives you lemons, squeeze out a smile’. It was that chapter which also made me quite amazed about her determination to win the battle that lay ahead for her.

I’ve seen non-fiction writing before that has turned preachy after starting out in an inspiring way. Geetha Paniker’s writing doesn’t do that. It doesn’t put on airs, or become a self-help book as it goes. It is almost like an observation of life itself, and penning down those observations. From the beautiful cover, to the poems which add to the beauty of writing, I liked reading this book. In all honesty, I don’t know if this review does the book justice. To review the recollection of such a journey isn’t easy. But I’ll conclude by saying that survivors of the ‘Emperor of Maladies’ will find this to be brilliant, but as I mentioned earlier, if it is understood correctly, so will anyone who faces adversity.

Not Rating This Book

Book Details

Title: When I Fell In Love With Life — Musings of a Cancer Survivor

Author: Geetha Paniker

Genre: Non Fiction

ISBN/ASIN: 9781482851564

Publisher: Partridge Publishing

The author gifted me a copy of this book for review, and no other payment was taken for this review. The views expressed here are mine, and remain uninfluenced and unbiased.

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Hi there! I'm Vinay Leo R. I'm a bookworm, and as the tagline says, I'm trying to read the world one book at a time!

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